U.S. patent number 4,159,506 [Application Number 05/823,901] was granted by the patent office on 1979-06-26 for mounting arrangement for chassis and printed circuit board with method of assembly.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Motorola, Inc.. Invention is credited to Leonard Latasiewicz, Peter F. Stultz.
United States Patent |
4,159,506 |
Latasiewicz , et
al. |
June 26, 1979 |
Mounting arrangement for chassis and printed circuit board with
method of assembly
Abstract
An improved mounting arrangement and method of assembly provides
for mounting parts on both chassis and board, then mating the two
before soldering by means of a twist-tab-and-slot arrangement. The
conformation and dimensions of the tab and slot prevent warpage
during soldering, enabling the use of the chassis as a board
carrier in the wave soldering process.
Inventors: |
Latasiewicz; Leonard (Hoffman
Estates, IL), Stultz; Peter F. (Des Plaines, IL) |
Assignee: |
Motorola, Inc. (Schaumburg,
IL)
|
Family
ID: |
24781311 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/823,901 |
Filed: |
August 12, 1977 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
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692615 |
Jun 3, 1976 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
361/753;
361/809 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H05K
3/308 (20130101); H05K 7/1461 (20130101); H05K
7/12 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
H05K
3/30 (20060101); H05K 7/12 (20060101); H05K
7/14 (20060101); H05K 000/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;336/67 ;338/317
;361/380,395,417,419,420,424,392,427,399 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Tolin; Gerald P.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Parker; Margaret Marsh Gillman;
James W.
Parent Case Text
This is a division of application Ser. No. 692,615, filed June 3,
1976.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A mounting arrangement for an electronic apparatus for use with
a conveyor mechanism for a wave soldering operation and including
in combination an insulated circuit board having mounting apertures
therein, the apertures being solder receptive, certain of the
apertures having component leads protruding therethrough, a metal
chassis comprising means for cooperating with said conveyor
mechanism, and a plurality of tabs formed on an edge of said
chassis and protruding through others of the apertures in said
circuit board for loosely retaining said board, each tab having a
body portion of a first predetermined cross-section, an end portion
of the body portion being twistable, and being twisted after
insertion through said board and a shoulder portion of a second
predetermined cross-section, said second predetermined
cross-section being larger than said first cross-section and also
wherein the apertures in the insulated circuit board are larger
than said first cross-section and smaller than said second
cross-section, the length of the tab portion between the twistable
portion and the shoulder portion is substantially greater than the
thickness of said circuit board to allow some lateral motion of
said board after said tab ends are twisted and the insulated
circuit board is non-rigidly retained between the shoulder portion
and the twisted end portion until the wave soldering operation is
completed.
2. A mounting arrangement according to claim 1 wherein each tab has
a twistable end portion which is formed by making two L-shaped cuts
in the body portion wherein the bottom section of each L-shaped cut
is spaced apart from the shoulder portion a distance greater than
the thickness of the circuit board and the side section of each
L-shaped cut extends away from the shoulder portion.
3. A mounting arrangement according to claim 1 wherein the means
for cooperating with said conveyor mechanism comprises cut out
portions of said chassis edge adjacent the circuit board.
4. A mounting arrangement according to claim 1 wherein the chassis
comprises at least two chassis segments and means mechanically
attaching each segment to the others of said segments.
5. A mounting arrangement according to claim 4 wherein the
attaching means comprise tabs formed on a second edge of one
chassis segment and cooperating slots formed in another segment.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to the field of electronic apparatus
assembly and specifically to an arrangement for mounting a printed
circuit board to a chassis, then using the chassis as a board
carrier during the waveline soldering process.
Increased automation of production lines has been a continuing goal
in the electronics industry for some years. New impetus was added
as components were miniaturized and new soldering methods were
developed to eliminate hand soldering of each small component. It
is known in the art to insert component leads into holes in an
insulating board having most or all of its interconnections plated
or printed on the board. The board is then fastened to a carrier or
pallet which carries the board through the fluxing, soldering and
cleaning steps on the production line. After these steps, the
pallet is removed, the chassis fastened to the board and other
components added and hand soldered. The use of pallets is costly
for several reasons: relatively high original cost coupled with
relatively short life, and the time and cost of labor required to
attach, remove, clean, then move the pallets back to the point of
attachment. Pallets continued to be used, however, since any known
method of attaching the chassis to the printed circuit board before
the soldering process would cause the board to warp due to the heat
and stress. This warping frequently caused failures in the
apparatus during testing or in use, due to minute cracks in the
printed leads or loosened connections.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the invention, therefore, to provide an improved
mounting arrangement for a chassis and printed circuit board and a
method of utilizing the arrangement.
It is a particular object to provide a mounting arrangement which
will eliminate steps in the assembly process while at the same time
improving the quality of the finished product.
The above objects are achieved in the present invention by the
combination of printed circuit board slots and chassis parts which
are shaped and dimensioned to (1) allow the chassis to be loosely
attached to the printed circuit board before waveline soldering;
(2) allow the chassis to function as a board carrier during the
soldering process; and (3) prevent warpage of the board due to
heating under stress.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a portion of a chassis and printed
circuit board mounting arrangement constructed according to the
invention.
FIG. 2 is a perspective, exploded, partial view of the mounting
arrangement of FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a bottom view of a portion of the board of FIG. 1
including one section of the mounting arrangement and showing the
relative sizes of the tab and the printed circuit board slot.
FIG. 4a is an enlarged perspective view of the mounting tab before
twisting.
FIG. 4b is the tab of FIG. 4a after twisting.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The mounting arrangement of the invention will be best understood
in relation to the drawing in which like reference numerals are
used throughout to indicate like parts. In FIG. 1 a side view of a
chassis 10 and a printed circuit board 11 are shown as constructed,
assembled and soldered according to the invention. The chassis 10
itself may be constructed in two parts 10a and 10b as will be
described later. A tab, designated generally as 12 and having a
shoulder portion 13 and a narrowed tab portion 14, has been
inserted through the printed circuit board 11 and soldered (as at
15). It should be noted that, while one specified tab design is
shown and described, other tab designs having the required
characteristics could be used within the scope of the invention.
These characteristics will be further described in relation to
FIGS. 4a and 4b.
In FIG. 2, the mounting arrangement is shown prior to mating of the
chassis 10 and the board 11 and the soldering step. The top surface
of the board 11 supports a number of components 16, the leads of
which have been inserted in apertures in the board. The board has
been passed over a waveline waxer (not shown) to hold the leads of
the components 16 in place, and over a cutter (not shown) to trim
the component leads. All parts 17 (one shown) to be supported by
the chassis 10 have been mounted and the chassis is ready to affix
to the printed circuit board 11. The tabs 12 of the chassis 10 are
then inserted in a like number of slots 18 in the printed circuit
board. The slots 18 are positioned and dimensioned to provide a
loose fit for the narrow portions 14 of the tabs 12.
In FIG. 3, the relative sizes of the narrow tab portion 14 and the
slot 18 are indicated. In FIGS. 4a and 4b the details of the tabs
12 are shown before and after twisting of the end of the tab. After
the chassis tabs 12 have been inserted in the printed circuit board
11, the ends of the tabs are twisted, preferably simultaneously and
by machine for better control. The chassis 10 is held firmly during
the twisting step but, because of the sizes of the tabs 12 and the
slots 18, and the fact that the dimension "A" (FIG. 4a) is larger
than the thickness of the printed circuit board material, no stress
is applied to the board 11. Thus, the board is firmly retained by
the twisted tabs 12, but has some mobility remaining in the plane
of the board. Interconnections between board and chassis are then
made and the chassis is gripped by a carrier (not shown) by means
of the cut-away portions (indicated by dimension "B") of the
chassis. Other means would be suitable for gripping the chassis
according to the invention, but the cut-away portions "B" as shown
are preferred for two reasons. First, is the simplicity and low
cost of forming the cut-away portions "B" as the chassis portions
are cut and formed. Second, is the fact that the cut-away portions
"B" free valuable space on the printed circuit board 11 for
placement of parts.
After twisting the end portions of the tabs 12, the small portions
20, the ends of which are now broken free, support but do not exert
pressure on the board 11. As mentioned hereinbefore, the dimension
"A" and the dimensions of the slot 18 allow sufficient room for the
board to move slightly in the plane of the board. Additionally, in
contrast to the type of twist tab (not shown) which is cut to
provide a narrow or neck portion which twists within the slot, or
an uncut tab 21 (FIGS. 1 and 2) such as may be used to hold the
chassis portions together, the portion of the tab 12 which twists
is outside the slot 18 and cannot cause binding pressure or stress
on the printed circuit board material. As mentioned before, other
tab designs having the above-described, non-binding
characteristics, may be used in the present invention.
Production steps relating to the method of applying the invention
are not illustrated since their structure is not critical to the
invention. The printed circuit board 11 is fabricated with
apertures and plated areas as is well known in the art. The leads
of the small components 16 are inserted in the small apertures in
the board and the board is then fluxed to prepare the appropriate
areas to be soldered. The board then passes over a wave of wax
which covers the bottom side of the board and holds the component
leads firmly in place. This step also eliminates the necessity of a
cleaning step in the assembly. In the next step, the board passes
over a cutter which removes excess lead lengths. Meanwhile, all
components to be directly supported by the chassis 10 are mounted
on the chassis walls. The chassis 10 is preferably made in two
portions 10a and 10b which may be fastened together by the twist
tabs 21 and an appropriate number of slots 22 (FIGS. 1 and 2)
either before or after (preferably before) the chassis is attached
to the printed circuit board. After the mating of the chassis 10
and the printed circuit board 11 is completed by the twisting of
the ends of the tabs 12, electrical interconnections are made. The
chassis is then picked up via the cut-away portions "B" by a
carrier attached to a conveyor and propelled through the remaining
assembly steps. The chassis and board may be subjected to another
fluxing step to prepare the chassis-to-board interconnections for
soldering. The next steps take the units through a preheater which
helps to prevent warping and the waveline soldering process which
washes the bottom of the board and the apertures with molten
solder. The unit is essentially ready for testing at this
point.
Briefly then, the invention comprises attaching a chassis to a
printed circuit board in such a fashion that the combined unit can
be conveyed through the soldering process without the use of a
separate pallet, while achieving higher reliability in the finished
product. Modifications and variations may be made while remaining
within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
* * * * *